TP&W M-EFEP 4-13-25

I caught another TP&W westbound freight on Sunday!

 

Athough short, the train had an ecclectic mix of power and rolling stock...and probably new business. The two GBRX gondolas on the head end were laden with the same gray, granular commodity as the BNSF steel hopper mid-train. I can only deduct that these were from the Waelz Sustainable Products plant in Clymers, Indiana.

 

Since 2022, zinc oxide has been moving from WSP in RISX covered hoppers to Union Pacific at Peoria (via TZPR for awhile now). Iron oxide, another by-product of recycling EAF bag dust from steel mills, has some uses as pigments for paints, coatings and inks, as well as in iron and steel production. It can also be used by the concrete industry. 

 

Note also that there were four RISX covered hoppers on today's train. While most of these zinc oxide loads go to UP, some of have been recently seen as routed TPW-TZPR-IMRR-Springfield-CPKC. 

 

The DOWX tank car, containing a non-hazardous liquid, was probably pulled from from the Union Pacific interchange at Watseka (I've seen them there before), and is likely consigned to a customer at Mapleton. Eight tank cars behind the DOWX car were loaded, and given that three display a Corn Products logo and another has CCLX (Crystal Car Line) reporting marks, I can conclude all eight contain corn syrup shipped from Ingredion's Summit Argo plant to Mapleton, via CN-Gilman-TPW. 

CAPTION: A westbound Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway freight, sometimes referred to as "M-EFEP" (Manifest, Effner IL to E. Peoria, IL), is shown early- to mid-afternoon Sunday, April 13, 2025 at El Paso, just west of El Paso, Secor and west of Secor (twice), Eureka, Cruger (overhead), Washington and Ernest Street. HESR 2107, IORY 5013 and TPW 5009 have 23 cars. Note gondolas on the head end are loaded with iron oxide from WSP in Clymers, Indiana. A BNSF steel hopper mid-train contains the same commodity. There are also four covered hoppers (RISX reporting marks) which contain zinc oxide, also from WSP.

 

- David P. Jordan